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For the first time in 2005, and final time for this football season, Bulldog Hotline. Munson is still trying to find Richt as the show opens at 7:06 pm.

Munson’s thoughts on the bowls up to date – some great games. He missed what may have been the best game: Michigan vs. Texas, over Louisville vs. Boise St. Boise St. already has Munson worried. Munson enjoyed the Bama-Minnesota game and missed the great LSU-Iowa game. Especially, Iowa over LSU and Mich.-Texas had great finishes.

The defense bailed the offense out a lot, as was the case much of the year, but the offense did put it together, shoulder to shoulder, a couple of times during the game. Munson was also quite impressed with Wisconsin’s RB, who he think showed a lot even though we schemed against him well.

Also, Munson apologized for the radio crew, explaining that the radio booth was at the far end, on the 7-yard line. The game often seemed to be way off to their left.

Munson went ahead and took calls since Richt is a bit off to the east.

James in Tampa – enjoying the weather (despite being very hoarse). He was glad we ended up in Tampa instead of Dallas. He & Munson both thought Odell Thurman was really putting on some hits. Munson said Odell looked like a man among boys at times. They also discussed Odell & other juniors who are considering the NFL draft. Munson noted the only part of NFL money that is guaranteed is the signing bonus. That signing bonus is a very big thing, even for a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick.

What about the new coaches coming into the SEC? Munson thinks Urban Meyer’s offense will be very interesting. The caller can’t wait to see Richt with DJ Shockley at QB against Meyer and the others.

Leslie from Madison is on the way home, along with all the buses. She’s looking forward to next year. Munson says he gets excited by the OL & RBs coming back but is worried about the defense.

Kevin in Mableton wonders if Thomas Davis is ready to play in the pros. Munson wonders where Davis would play in the NFL. Greene should make a fine backup for someone in the NFL. Lots of great college QBs ended up washing out in the NFL, getting cut and traded time and time again. Lots of strength in the arm and lots of brains.

Eric in Alabama (Auburn fan) doesn’t think UGA played to its potential in the Auburn game. He hopes the juniors stay here, and have a chance to do what Cadillac and Ronnie Brown did at Auburn as seniors.

Steve in Atlanta doesn’t think the juniors – especially Odell and T. Davis – will come back .. not a good business decision given the NFL money that could be available. He thinks UGA had an extremely talented team and thinks we underachieved. Munson never thought we’d win the national title and not even sure we’d win 10. The caller is still frustrated about having 3-4 All-Americans and disappointed some schemes and playcalling (stick to basics and avoid getting too fancy).

(Richt still not located as of 7:25 .. on a recruiting trip per rivals.com)

Another Steve (also in Atlanta) thinks we struggle to put teams away. We had a chance yesterday to do so, in addition to Tech and Florida. Munson is concerned about the same thing and wished Richt were available to handle it. Munson in particular notices we can’t grind out 2-3 first downs when needed.

Wisconsin’s fans expected more and thought they were better. Remember, they were 9-0 at one point and leading the nation in defense. Munson reminds us that whenever you lead the nation in rushing or defense, some of it is who you played and where. This Wisconsin team was better than the one we saw several years ago.

They found CMR about 7:35 – he is thrilled about the win. Give Wisconsin credit for getting back into the game; they’re a championship team. Sometimes people think these other teams aren’t very good.

Winning big games in any season is tough. We’re losing some key players but think we’ve recruited well enough to have players to step in to fill those positions.

Any given year a big year can happen. The key is to keep recruiting well and keep doing the things we’re doing. CMR reminds us that Bobby Bowden has been coaching nearly 40 years and has had only one perfect season. Being satisfied with nothing but a perfect season is setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment.

One caller wonders why we seem to come out flat in the 3rd qtr. CMR will have to think that over on review of the season and each game in particular.

Graham in Macon – CMR thinks Bailey and AJ Bryant will make plays for us. Bryan McClendon has done well, Mario Raley will be back, and others. We’ll see who can do what. It’s good to know we’ve got a guy like Leonard Pope who can make plays.

CMR thinks the juniors would like to stay but if the money’s good, they’ll go. They’ve got a big decision to make coming up.

Caleb in Athens thinks UGA had a great season and Auburn beat a great UGA team. CMR is afraid this is a year where if UGA were undefeated, we’d be where Auburn is now. If you’re going to have an undefeated year, you certainly expect to play for the national title.

Vint in Alabama wondered how we ended up playing Wisconsin. Richt mentioned we got protected by the Capital One last year after we lost the SEC title game, so this year they wanted a different team. CMR doesn’t think our ranking would be affected whether we played Iowa or Wisconsin.

Thomas - talked about that play Pollack made in the 4th quarter when he stole the ball. CMR said a game like that would be confirmation for the NFL that Pollack is a great player. He may even go high in the first round.

Munson asked CMR how many redshirt freshmen we have .. someone (probably one of the assistants) said we redshirted 10-15.

Jim (Oyster Man) was glad Munson liked the cigars given by Oyster Man’s daughter at the banquet in Tampa. Munson also thanked the female student who baked him a pecan pie just before the trip. (Munson’s son got hold of the pie and ate all of it!)

Kevin asked whether we will change our scheme to something more Vick or Vince Young-style for Shockley next year. Richt says there is plenty in the playbook for a mobile QB like DJ or a guy like Greene who sits in the pocket, using the contrast at FSU of their offense under Charlie Ward and under Chris Weinke.

Sandy in Lilburn wished we’d let Thomas Brown score that last TD. Richt laughed and said it wouldn’t have been a smart play. All we would’ve needed is a fumble that they scoop and go the distance to score and we’d look like idiots.

Richt agrees with Munson about Boise St. He’s already seen enough of Boise St. to make his stomach turn.

Tim in Rome asked about white shoes. Richt re-told the stories about going from white to black shoes when we played in the SEC title game two years ago. If the players decide they want to go back to white, they’ll have to win some kind of championship to earn it.

Walker - thanked Richt for keeping his promise to have Greene & DJ in the game at the same time. CMR thanked the fans in general, especially those who made the trip. That makes a good impression on bowl committees.

Munson says Arkansas played us twice as tough as he thought. Richt noted that Arkansas played very well and was very young this year.